The present invention relates to a device for sorting and mating members of a plurality of members, the mated members forming a matched set, and more particularly to a panel having a plurality of openings therein, in which the members can be inserted and retained.
A persisting problem encountered by anyone doing laundry is the sorting and mating of members of pairs such as socks after the laundry has been dried. The most common, and time consuming, method is to lay out the clean socks on a flat surface and try to find the mates as rapidly as possible. This task is compounded by pairs of socks which are similar in color (e.g., navy blue and black) and texture. In addition, in a family of adults and children, there can be pairs having similar colors and patterns, but being of different sizes. Depending upon the size of the family, an average wash can contain ten (10) or twenty (20) pairs of socks. Also, there are other garments, in the laundry which are paired members and which also must be sorted and mated. The failure to find the mate frequently results in a "lost" member which in many instances, is discarded after a period in which a pair cannot be identified. This problem is even more acute in commercial applications where the numbers of such garments is significantly greater than in a residential or family application.
There have been efforts directed to solving this long-existing problem. The applicant is aware of the following U.S. patents which disclose devices for drying, holding and/or pairing socks and other articles of clothing.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) ______________________________________ 2,541,348 Gamache 2,612,274 Earll 2,793,762 Broussard 2,920,765 Royer 2,922,528 Carlson 3,633,802 Webster 3,972,094 Fuller D 281,469 Honerman D 311,458 La Croix D 323,748 La Croix ______________________________________
None of the above references disclose a panel having a plurality of specifically shaped openings which permit simple insertion of the sock or garment so that the sock or garment is readily visible for mating with a second member of a pair. Further, none of the references disclose a means for securely supporting the panel in a substantially upright position so that a portion of one member of the pair may be easily inserted into one of the openings and the member is displayed for subsequent mating with the other member of the pair.
The applicant is also aware of the following which disclose display devices:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) ______________________________________ 2,614,701 Mapson 2,102,977 Shoemaker et al 3,281,102 Hobson ______________________________________
None of these devices are used for articles of clothing nor for mating pairs of items. Also these devices do not have openings configured either to facilitate manual insertion of an article of clothing or to display a portion of the article of clothing to permit comparison for mating pairs of the articles of clothing.
Thus, there remains a need for a simple, easy to use device to sort and mate socks and other garments which exist as a pair of members.